CFPB Complaints Produce $1M for Military Families

Members of the armed services, veterans, and their families who filed complaints with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau about financial products or services have received more than $1 million.

The CFPB released a report on Thursday highlighting the recovered funds from more than 14,000 complaints issued by members of the armed services, past and present, to the CFPB from July 21, 2011, through Feb. 1, 2014.

“Not all service members, veterans and their family members who submitted complaints received money; a number of them received non-monetary relief — such as cleaning up their credit reports, stopping harassment from debt collectors, and correcting account information — and some had their complaints closed without relief,” said the CFPB.

Complaints about mortgages, credit cards and banking services have been issued from every state along with each rank and branch of the Armed Services.

The CFPB said it recovered a median amount of $470 for mortgages, $143 for credit cards and $125 for bank accounts or services, according to data from companies that have provided relief.

Some the complaints include mortgage servicers having no knowledge of military specific programs or the federal guidance that require servicers to provide information about available assistance for military families that receive a Permanent Change of Station.

The CFPB also received complaints from military members about aggressive tactics of debt collectors.

“These tactics often involve contacting a service member’s military chain of command, threatening punishment under the Uniform Code of Military Justice, threatening to have a service member reduced in rank, or threatening to have a service member’s security clearance revoked,” said the CFPB.

“Military families make enormous sacrifices for our nation and deserve to be protected,” said CFPB Director Richard Cordray in a statement. “I am pleased that the bureau has assisted thousands in cutting through red tape when dealing with their financial institutions. However, the complaints show that many service members, veterans, and their families are not getting the protections accorded to them by federal laws and that raises concern.”